Educational testing scores are a separate area, in itself needing funding to utilize the computer to test each student individually, with individual criterion testing.

Was the apples-and-oranges comparison lesson missed by Mr. Lane?

The potential springtime layoffs are a result of a broken funding system. Teachers plan for years to get trained. Look what they get — last-minute planning for funding. If the funding does not come, they are unemployed. Nice reward.

I do not understand why we are funding schools in foreign countries, but not fully here. I do understand a president who wants to put money where his mouth is to help correct the above problems. By the way, if $50,000 is being spent for a teacher, she is getting about $37,000; the rest is for matching Social Security taxes, pension, health insurance, etc.

It is not a king’s ransom for someone who has paid $100,000-plus to get her teacher certification. Does Mr. Lane’s article really suggest, that even in these rough economic times, fewer teachers will not hurt students? We as a country have to decide our values with respect to education, before we become a Third World country. [The writer is a retired New York City school teacher.]